Perish Song
by yiranY
Summary: An Altaria tries to survive the Salamence while watching everyone she knows around her die.
1. How could it be

This story is a prequel of sorts to my main story, Lost Illusion. This story is comparatively shorter and more compact. The setting is in the wild (not Pokémon Mystery Dungeon) with only Pokémon as characters, and all of them are OCs. The inspiration and the strange Japanese are explained on my profile. Thanks for clicking on this story, and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

どうして空はこんなに青くて…

_How could it be, that the sky appears this blue and innocent…_

* * *

From the moment she woke up from her sleep, she knew something was wrong. She opened her eyes nervously. There was a dim light coming in from the entrance of the cave, but it wasn't enough for her to see much. At least it woke her up a bit more, and that was all it took for her to remember. Instead of just the jarring, freezing floor, she should have been able to feel the soft warm down of her mother. But in its place she found nothing.

"Mum?" She cried. What could have happened? Why would her mother disappear in the middle of the night? "Muuum! Sachiel!"

"Arael, go back to sleep," she heard her brother's sleepy voice from behind her.

Arael turned around. He was on the ground, just like she had been, but there was no indication that he was bothered by the lack of warmth like her. Were Swablu supposed to be like this?

"How can you even sleep like that? Plus, our mum just disappeared and-"

"She's done this before. I'm used to it. And she's_ my_ mum."

Even though he mumbled it in a tired tone, Arael felt like something had hit her. "Sandalphon," she uttered his name slowly. "Mum said… please don't…"

"Yeah okay okay okay. Just go back to sleep and forget I ever said anything."

She stared at his sleeping figure for a moment before she focused her attention back on her mother's whereabouts. "But can't you at least tell me what she's doing?" Arael asked worriedly.

"I don't know either! Ask her when she gets back! Go to sleep!"

Arael stood still noiselessly for a while. Sandalphon didn't usually shout. Maybe he was just really tired. Whatever the reason, he was the original, while she was the extra; so she tried her best to comply with his demands.

But to simply stay there in the silence and darkness? Arael thought it would be too much to bear until her mother came back. She started to edge towards the entrance of the cavern slowly, if only to get a view of outside. Their mother had warned them that it would be unsafe – but she reasoned it would be fine to just take a look. It wasn't as if she was going to fly out.

The tunnel curved slightly ahead of her and finally she was bathed in the faint moonlight. The mountains in the distance were covered with snow, with the dark starry night sky behind it, like millions of eyes watching these mountains from above. Closer to her were the tip of some trees, one of which was their home during the remainder of the year. She knew that they grew beside a now-frozen lake, as she had seen in autumn, though she couldn't see it from this angle.

Why was the sky so blue? The clouds drifted slowly across it, towards an unknown destination. The place was so peaceful, as if it was unaware of the sorrow of this tiny little bird. Sorrow? She wasn't sure that was the right word. It wasn't like it was her fault, or she could have done anything about it. But that didn't stop her from thinking about them…

Arael blinked hard a few times. She really wanted to go out and fly for a bit now, despite the danger and the cold; the view from inside was so restricting. But it seemed like it dawn was close, since the sky was quite pale, so she waited for her mum to come back.

She was sure it didn't take that long, but it still felt like ages when her mother swooped into view from above.

"Arael? You're awake?" her mother said, somewhat surprised, as she landed on the edge of the cave with her wings still softly flapping.

"I woke up a while ago. You weren't here so I was cold…"

"Oh. It wasn't too bad, was it?" she said in a soothing voice, worried. She then walked over to Arael, who gladly snuggled into the warm body.

"Not really. I was just wondering where you were so I couldn't fall asleep," Arael explained.

"Oh… I was just getting some fresh air, since I woke up early. Did Sandalphon wake up?" she asked, glancing at the sleeping Swablu lying next to them.

Arael shook her head.

"Okay. I guess you just woke up a bit early, then. Do you still want to sleep?"

She tried closing her eyes for a second, but the drifting feeling of sleep had already left her. So she shook her head again.

"Well, I'll get him up now," the Altaria said as she walked over to her son.

Arael flew lightly off of her mother. She zoned out slightly, with the impatient drowsy voice of Sandalphon sounding in her ears. Would he remember what he said? She hoped not… It would be best if everything just carried on as normal. It would help her get used to it.

When lifting her head up again she could see an annoyed Sandalphon walking towards her.

"Why do you have to get up so early? Now I can't sleep anymore and it's all your fault." He glared at her.

"Now, now, I would have woken both of you up, anyway. So don't blame it on her," Arael heard her mother chide her brother, which made her tense slightly. Her mother always seemed to treat her more nicely than she did Sandalphon. Which, she thought, did make her feel more welcome, but every time it happened it would remind her…

She stood there staring at her mother until Sandalphon started talking again. "Hey. Mum's leading us outside to the tree. Stop standing their gazing into thin air." Then he walked towards the exit of the cave where their mother was waiting.

_You don't know how I feel…_

* * *

…何も悲しみを知らぬように…

…_and it is so ignorant of all the strife in this world…_

* * *

"Sandalphon and Arael are up first today? Wow, this is a something that should be filed as one of those fancy tales!" Israfel's loud voice greeted them as she landed on the branch across from them.

"You think I care about that? I'd rather get my sleep… Plus, it was just Arael waking up early and getting scared because Mum was missing." He turned to his side, where Arael was standing on the same branch. "Seriously though. Mum's an Altaria. She knows what she's doing. You're just worrying for nothing."

"Yeah, they're adults. What're you worrying about?" Israfel asked as she glanced at Arael.

"Nothing…" Arael responded lightly, and Israfel's attention quickly went back to the noisy Sandalphon.

Normally, Arael talked more than this. But even after waking up properly, Sandalphon still saw her worry as ridiculous. Israfel might not have known, but Arael was sure _he_ knew; their mother must have given him at least some explanation about her. However, she also knew (or at least, hoped) that Sandalphon didn't mean to do it on purpose. So if she just stayed quiet, maybe they'd start talking about something else.

"…But don't you get kind of bored?" Israfel was saying to Sandalphon. "I mean, you're the only male here. My parents told me that male Swablu are expected to start battling earlier."

"Why would I go and peck others to get pecked in return?" Sandalphon responded incredulously. "I've tried to do it with Bardiel and his friends once. And the only thing I've learnt from it is that it hurts. Singing and flying around are way better than fighting."

"Well, no objections there." Israfel sighed. "Maybe you should go ask them why they're so hyperactive. They'd give you a straighter answer than they'd ever give me. Or maybe Arael should try." Israfel gestures to the Swablu sitting aside. "She's so quiet that even those guys would be nice to her."

"I'm just not feeling very well today," Arael responded (although she had to admit her voice did sound quiet after hearing just the other two for a while). "It was cold in the night."

"Huh. You should be feeling better by now, since the sun's already out of the mountains!" Sandalphon gestured towards the east with his wing.

Arael looked over, expecting their conversation to continue, but quickly realized they were both expecting her talk. "Well, I guess so. Uh, do you guys know where the rest of them are?" she said quickly, finding a way to remove herself from the center of attention.

"Maybe they're sleeping in," Sandalphon said loudly and glanced pointedly at Arael.

Arael shrunk back. "Maybe they're listening to stories. Or eating berries. Or learning something from their… parents," she said with hesitance.

If Israfel noticed anything about Arael's behavior, she didn't mention it. "Well, wanna go find them?"

"Sure," Sandalphon responded. With a few light beats of his wings, he flew off into the distance, with Israfel tailing behind. Arael hesitated for a bit, looking at the snowy, mountainous terrain dotted with a few trees here and there; but she realized she was going to fall behind and took flight quickly.

"Wait! Who're we finding first?" Arael heard Israfel shout ahead to Sandalphon.

"Iruel! Her cave's at the top!" He yelled back.

Arael liked Iruel. She was calmer than the others, just like Arael was. Being with her made her feel less out-of-place. So she flapped her wings faster, swerving downwards back towards the lakeside cliff where most of them lived during the winter.

"Umm, which one is her cave again?" Sandalphon asked after stopping but still beating his wings to hover in midair.

"This one." Arael dived ahead and slowed herself down as she approached the end of the cave and landed softly.

Israfel landed shortly after, and then Sandalphon, who started complaining immediately. "It's always so cold when you fly in winter!"

Israfel walked forward. "My mum said it's better as Altaria because you have more feathers. Anyway." She breathed heavily, as if to clear her voice. "Hello! It's Israfel. Is Iruel here?"

There was a response from inside, but it wasn't very clear. After a few seconds, Iruel's lithe figure appeared in the hallway.

"Hi everyone. What is it?" she asked in a soft voice, which Arael thought was kind of like her own.

"We were just wondering where you were," Sandalphon answered.

"Oh." She looked down. "Mum told me not to go out. Because… the Salamence got my uncle yesterday."

Sandalphon gasped. Arael murmered a condolence that Iruel probably didn't hear over the gasp. Israfel, however, was confused. "What do you mean the Salamence 'got' him?"

"Wait," Sandalphon interrupted before Iruel could answer. "You don't know about them?"

"About who? The Salamence? Well, they're these bunch of dragons that live over-"

"No no no! About them killing Altaria," Sandalphon said emphatically, his wings open wide.

There was a bit of silence, until Israfel spoke again, frowning. "…What?"

Iruel spoke again. "For some reason or another, the Salamence have been killing some of the Altaria. At first it was just mauled bodies being discovered randomly, but… one of the adults eventually witnessed one and managed to escape. I think he was called Tabris."

Arael shuddered at the mention of the name and despite her annoyance at Sandalphon beforehand she shuffled closer to him.

"Wait… why don't I know this?" Israfel looked around at everyone.

"I only knew about it today," Iruel confessed. "Mum gave me a talk this morning."

"I…" Sandalphon was about to speak, but looked at Arael, and seemed to change his mind about something. "Our mum told me a while ago. She just… did. I'm pretty sure the others know too."

So he did know about her. Arael shuffled a bit closer to him; it made her feel safer.

"There's not really a reason to tell us. None of the Swablu have been killed yet, and it wouldn't be good to make me worried. Plus, we don't wander far from here anyway. All the adults are watching."

Another bit of silence followed. Arael thought it was weird that Iruel talked this much.

"But shouldn't you be somewhat worried?" Israfel asked Iruel.

"We'll be fine. Are you guys gonna find the others or stay here? Because I can't go."

"…Well, we don't always have to go to the tree, so let's just stay here," said Sandalphon. "No one seems to be coming out today, anyway."

"Okay," responded Israfel. "But I need to ask my mum about the Salamence… thing." She looked back at Sandalphon. "Seriously, though, I can't see your mum just saying it. How did she even bring it up?"

Sandalphon eyed Arael again, and Arael suddenly felt responsible. It wasn't his duty to hide it for her. And she had to face it someday, instead of avoiding it and keeping it hidden from all the others. So she stepped forward, away from him, and responded to Israfel's question.

"Sachiel brought the news to him with me. She had to explain to Sandalphon why there was suddenly an extra Swablu asleep beside him when he woke up." Her voice sounded calm. She hoped it would stay like this.

Israfel's eyes widened. "So you… your parents…"

"Yes. My parents were targeted because my dad was there at a scene. ...Sachiel took me in after they were killed."

* * *

…いつも躊躇わず明日へと崩れ落ちる

…_then floats on by towards tomorrow, where it crumbles to dust_


	2. This little life

いのちは足りないまま生まれて来るのね…

_This little life, it is made of wants never to be fulfilled…_

* * *

"Arael? Arael! Are you okay?" Sandalphon asked as he flew into their cave, probably after another day of playing with his friends. The evening sunlight could be seen shining on the tree in front of the cave, but it was dim.

Areal stared off into the distance, not looking at him. "I'm fine," she muttered. "I'm just a bit tired these days."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Sandalphon asked again as he walked over. "It must be really boring staying here alone."

"I don't like winter. It's too cold to go out every day. Snow's pretty but it doesn't feel very nice. I'm fine just looking out at the scenery." It was an obvious lie, but she couldn't stand mentioning it again.

"Oh come on, it must get boring with the same view. Why don't you come tomorrow?" he suggests with a pat to her back.

"I do fly out a bit to see more, sometimes. It's just… I really am quite tired."

"After a day of resting? Nah, you have to come tomorrow. Seriously."

"Well… okay." Arael didn't want to go that much, because she was afraid she might start crying again at any mention of her parents, just like last time. But it wouldn't work if she just stayed in the cave every day.

There. She wanted to cry again already, just by thinking of them. What a crybaby she was. She shook her head and tried to think about something else. "So, what did you and your friends do today?" she asked Sandalphon.

"Well, we had a few races on who could fly the fastest. And some adults came and taught us some new tunes! But none of us could sing that well. There was this really sad tune which sounded kind of nice but our voice was too cheesy compared to the adults. Maybe you should try. I think your voice would suit that song," Sandalphon told her and smiled.

"I'll try it tomorrow," answered Arael. "But a flying race? It's cold enough without the wind in your face already. I bet I'd just freeze halfway."

Sandalphon chuckled. "I think that's what actually happened to Israfel! But you don't have to do it if you don't want to. You could just wait for us." He walked deeper into the cave as he stretched his wings. "Just focus on what you're good at. For you, it's singing. For me, it's flying. For the other males, it's fighting each other. I still don't get why they do that."

"It's not completely like that, though," Arael remarked as she followed him back into the cave – it was getting a bit cold as night was falling. "I mean, I'm better at singing, but… flying is more useful. You could get to places faster, or run away from the S… predators. And-"

"That's not true!" Sandalphon interjected quickly, his wings opening in disagreement. "Singing can sound really nice! It can be motivational and stuff. It gets boring if you just eat and sleep every day."

"But… there are more useful things that we don't even practice," Arael suggests softly. "Like picking berries. Mum does it for us but we're going to have to learn it, too."

"What are you worrying about? We have plenty of time to learn!" Sandalphon yawned as the light shining into the cave dimmed. "Anyway, I'm kind of tired, 'cause the race was really intense. Wake me up when Mum comes home with berries." He groomed himself for a moment and went to the side and just laid on the wall. "Actually, don't, I had some already. Just let me sleep."

"I… okay."

Arael turned her attention back outside. Even though she had been alone the whole day, she still liked talking to Sandalphon. Maybe it was because nothing was occupying her mind when she was alone, and her thoughts would turn to the depressing things again…

In the end, she just stared out of the entrance and watched the light on the tree bark disappear bit by bit, and the sky turn darker and darker, until finally she could see the stars again. Only then did Sachiel come back.

"Mum? Do you have any berries?" she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Oh! I forgot! Wait a moment, I'll get some right now!" her mother hurriedly replied and took off again.

Arael stood there, confused. _What could she be so occupied with?_ Arael wondered. Maybe she's just busy with adult stuff. Adults always have stuff to do.

At least her mother didn't take long to come back. "Sorry, sweetie, here's some," she told Arael as she landed in the cave. Arael didn't even identify what the berries were before she picked them up with her beak and swallowed them.

"What about Sandalphon?" her mother asked from aside.

"He's asleep already and he said to not wake him up," Arael responded. "Mum, what were you doing that late out, anyway?"

"Stuff with other Altaria," she responded quickly. "Like what you do with your friends, actually."

Arael didn't pursue the question further, and as soon as she finished her share of berries she quickly became drowsy and fell asleep, lying next to Sandalphon.

The next day, her mother brought them berries in the morning, while Sandalphon complained about being hungry. _Although it really was his fault for not eating any last night_, thought Arael. But soon they had their share Sandalphon dragged Arael long to their group of friends. "Come on, I bet you'll sing very well," he had said. Arael wasn't so sure, but seeing Sandalphon wanting to take her with him at least made her feel better.

There were already a group of noisy Swablu around in the tree on the top of the cliff, who paid little attention to the two newcomers. "That's the wrong note! It's not as high!" could be heard between them as they tried to sing various melodies.

_It was too high_, thought Arael as she settled on the branch next to Sandalphon. He nudged her, interrupting her thoughts. "You should learn the new song and try it. It sounded really… forlorn and stuff but our voices didn't fit." He turned around towards another branch. "Israfel, can you teach Arael? You know, the song from yesterday?"

"Huh?" Israfel, who was chatting with someone else, responded confusedly. "Oh, she's here today? Sure! Hold on, Leliel," she remarked to the Swablu beside her and she took off lightly and landed next to Arael. "I think your voice would suit this song well. Anyway, let's start." She started to sing a few notes in succession, with a few parts where the melody repeated. Arael stood still and listened carefully, while Sandalphon was watching curiously from the side.

"So, that's the first part. Why don't you try it?" Israfel said encouragingly after she finished on a low note.

_That was an easy melody. It doesn't even vary much._ But on the surface, Arael just said, "Okay." She then started to sing the melody Israfel had sung, while trying to add the emotion that Sandalphon had emphasized so much on into it.

"That was great!" Israfel said as Arael finished. "But the next part, it sounds much more emotional, which will sound even better with your voice. Here goes!"

Arael focused on the melody. Israfel was right. Even though the notes were not as hard as some other songs, this melody had a kind of flow to it… like it was telling a sad story. As Israfel progressed, she actually felt a something in her heart, that reminded her of her parents. It was just a song, though. She wasn't going to cry because of something trivial like that.

But as Israfel ended on a long note, as if reminiscent of something, she felt her heart start to stir inside her.

"Wow," Sandalphon remarked from aside. "That was the part, Arael. I bet your voice would suit it."

Arael nodded and started. Everything was fairly normal at the first few notes. As her voice grew louder and louder and the melody became more and more forceful, the small commotion around her quieted down significantly as all the Swablu were listening to her song. As her song drew to an end, Arael could feel the emotion flowing through her, and it was like she wanted to cry, but there were no tears. As she sang the last long note and it echoed off, she just stared at the floor motionlessly, feeling her heavy heartbeat in her body.

There were no applause or cheers. The small group of Swablu all stared at her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Arael felt extremely embarrassed, but the state of her emotions also meant that she didn't really care.

The silence and echoes of her voice stayed for a while until an Altaria passing by swooped down and landed on an empty branch. "Who sang that song?" he asked quickly.

"Uh, she did," Sandalphon pointed to Arael with his wing, almost as if he is shifting blame.

Arael felt embarrassed again, but she had the same apathy from before. She simply focused her vision at the ground below, with her wings tucked in closely at the side.

"You can sing a perish song at this age? Your singing must be very powerful," he says, giving Arael a sense of importance. Then his tone changed. "But remember, if you are to sing it, you must be prepared for the emotional impact. In the future, you may use it to fend yourself. If you can adjust your mental state well, it will be an incredibly powerful weapon.

Arael continued staring at the ground. Even though she took in every word this adult had said, she didn't want to show a response.

"I know right now, your emotions must be very unstable. But do not forget that with this power comes great responsibility," he says gravely.

The Altaria took off swiftly, leaving all the Swablu dumbfounded. Arael felt her control coming back, and turned her head to Sandalphon. "I'm going home."

* * *

⋯痛みが満たすものもあるのね⋯

_…and the pain would stay only in my insignificant mind and thoughts…_

* * *

Arael didn't feel like she had much energy for the remainder of the day. If she stayed still in the cave, she would get this restless feeling – but flying in circles near her cave didn't help it either. In the end she simply went into the deep end of the cave and practiced her singing on other songs.

But despite what she felt and what the Altaria had told her, she wanted to sing and hear that song again. She knew it would make her feel sad, but it also made her sensations more acute. It was a strange, peculiar feeling, to feel such emotion from what is simply a combination of notes.

So she began with the first verse. The song was relatively mild at this point, but knowing what is to come, it still felt like an appropriate exposition and progression to the next part. Arael tried to sing every note very carefully in order to make it accurate, but gradually she found herself care less and less, because why did it matter? More and more, she felt like bellowing out the note out of feel and emotion, rather than making it a methodical process, because it simply felt more right. As she began on the main tune, she felt the familiar stir within her heart, and it expanded, and expanded, until she was suddenly out of breath and on her stomach.

_Nothing really matters_, she thought. _The Salamence will simply continue to kill the adults until there are none left_.

Pushing herself up weakly, she found herself far more apathetic than she had been before. She almost wanted to die, then and there, because she didn't care about anything anymore.

She didn't know how long it was before there was a voice calling her. "Arael, I'm back!" her adoptive brother called her from outside. "Everyone was talking about your singing, because it was-"

In the corner of her eye, Arael saw that he had landed, but didn't bother to even look him. There was no point.

"Arael?" He walked over quickly. "Are you all right? …You sang the song again, didn't you?"

She managed to turn her head to see his worried face, and gave a small but unmistakable nod.

But she didn't expect Sandalphon to rush over and press his body against hers. "Don't do that, Arael," he said in a voice uncharacteristic of him,. "Please don't sing it again. I don't want to see you sad like this."

The feel of another made Arael regain some of her control. "I don't know what came over me," she murmured. "I sang the song, and…"

"Don't!" Sandalphon repeated. "Haven't you felt what it does to you already?"

"I know," Arael answered and looked up at his worried face. "But that adult said it is a very powerful weapon. If I can practice it... maybe I will be able to stop the Salamence."

"A perish song can make your foe faint, but it will affect you as well," Sandalphon reasoned. "Arael, just listen to me. Please."

His pleading gaze struck a chord in Arael's heart. Never did she think Sandalphon would act so caring. He always seemed like the type that was always casually cheerful. "…I'll listen. Thank you, Sandalphon."

"Oh, it's not a big deal, really." He stepped back and became somewhat flustered. "I'm just looking out for my sister. We need to look out for each other as family." He smiled at Arael.

This was the first time Sandalphon had called her his sister. Arael stared at his grin, and suddenly had the enthusiasm to return it. "Yes. We do."

It was time to move on. She wouldn't forget the trauma of her parents' dead bodies, but that was a nightmare of the past. She had Sandalphon with her now. Everything was going to be okay.

* * *

⋯欠け落ちた心に貴方が触れて

…_until you came and touched my heart with your soft embrace._


End file.
